Anna N

According to the Washington Post Here, There is no need for any special changes to the normal preparation. I apologize if it is behind a pay wall but here is an excerpt. “Macaroni and cheese freezes very well. I ought to know; I worked on a big mac and cheese project last year and was eating the research materials for months afterwards. You don’t need to do anything special when preparing whichever recipe you choose; just make sure that when you cook your pasta, you keep it al dente. That will help stave off the mushiness you’re concerned about. Another thing: I haven’t really noticed this, but some cooks believe that the cooked pasta absorbs too much of the sauce over time and makes the dish dry. The antidote is to cut back slightly on the amount of pasta, to increase the ratio of cheese to mac. If you find that your defrosted portions are too dry, try that technique.”

Hope your family health issues soon improve. It’s great that you’re still enjoying your air fryer, too. Not sure why you are worried about keeping a ceramic top clean and shiny.

Definitely a peeler for celery. I think I was doing that before I even knew anything about Mr. Pepin.

Yes. That is a good plan. And I do think that the stems tell you how much you need to remove in order not to end up with strings in your teeth!

He doesn’t need one. A knife in that man’s hand is just an extension and he can make it dance. I find a peeler less satisfactory than a paring knife for dealing with broccoli stems. I think the biggest difference between the apparent ease with which he does it, aside of course from his brilliance, is the quality and freshness of the broccoli. Assistance seek out the best produce for him. I am usually stuck with the supermarket where the broccoli has been sitting around for some considerable time as evidenced by the condition.

The stems are the best part of the broccoli but I must admit that I have never been able to peel them the way that Jacques Pepin suggests is possible.

A spatula costing $139 had better be able to get itself out of the utensil jar and over to the stove, lift up my egg without breaking the yolk and place the egg carefully on my plate, find its way to the sink, wash itself thoroughly with soap and water, rinse three times, dry itself and return to the utensil jar all the while singing Amazing Grace a cappella.

I would definitely not turn my nose up at either breakfast but that Thomas Keller one is killing me! So happy to hear, just as I suspected, that your meals are not rigidly planned but that within reason you go with the flow and adapt as needed.

Strangely, although I am one of those people who becomes ridiculously over cautious about food expiration dates, I have never given it a thought where milk or cream are concerned. The smell test has always been enough for me. It pre-dates expiration dates by many decades.

Holy Moses. My jaw dropped at the cost of the rice cooker. It is now lying in 20 pieces on the tile after looking up Blendtecs. But I continue to subscribe to the philosophy that we each have the right to choose where we dispose of our income.

Here is an interesting discussion Storage of tomatoes.

I am never cavalier about pouring hot oil into a container. Metal is the rule. I might transfer it later to glass but not until it has cooled to room temperature.

As long as we believe that cooking sous vide is so scientifically sound that we can choose a time and temperature for a particular thickness of a particular protein and the results will be identical each and every time, we are bound to be disappointed. Supermarket pork and heritage pork will give different results. Choice beef and prime beef will not react the same to the same time and temperature. As with all cooking methods experience matters. Restaurants have a much better shot at consistency simply because their supply is much more consistent than what most consumers are able to source. That is my take anyway. @Okanagancookand I seem to have cross posted!

Looks like pork chop perfection to me.

On the one hand I am a huge fan of sous vide. On the other hand I am looking at those pork chops, reading about their provenance, almost tasting that crisped fat and I vote on this occasion for cast iron pan, flipping frequently and basting with pan juices.

In my experience potatoes that have really sprouted so that they’re practically a plant are so disgusting you wouldn’t want to eat them anyway. Small sprouts have never bothered me and like you I have never noticed any ill effects.

Mea culpa. Knew I would raise somebody’s ire!

Just swallowed a double dose of Gravol.

Trauma alert for gardeners in the Northern hemisphere I bought some zucchini this week. Salted them for about an hour and then sautéed in some nice olive oil. Might have benefitted from a dipping sauce of some sort but that was not going to happen.

Since it was possible this week to enjoy lunch on Saturday rather than Sunday @Kerry Bealwas happy to go with my suggestion that we order a selection of appetizers from Sakai. A most satisfactory lunch.

And yet you have surely seen someone use a saw as a hammer. 😂

Sorry I thought you were suggesting different flavours for the Branston pickle. As @blue_dolphinnotes it has a sweetness for sure but I never think of it as a sweet pickle.

As shown by @liuzhouthe brand name is Branston. Being the peasant that I am, where there’s hard cheese there ought to be Branston. But I defer to more sophisticated people to comment on dinner parties.

The original Branston pickle does not come in a variety of flavours.

Quite some time ago I was gifted some offbrand Branston pickle. For anyone who doubted it it is worth finding the real McCoy this one did not cut the mustard!